Posts Tagged ‘BMW Gran Turismo’

The Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo is apparently more than just a virtual fantasy.

The great thing about the digital world is that you can do just about anything with the right programmer. A little bit of code and your latest Mario Brothers game allows you to drive upside-down. But when it comes to the long-running Gran Turismo series, the goal has been to craft something as real as possible, from the look of the cars to the way they perform “on track.”

And with the new Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo, the maker is broadly hinting that its latest entrant into the PlayStation driving franchise might eventually become a case of life imitating art.

Beyond the Headlines!

The Concept 2020, it says, “gives hints as to how a supercar of the future might look.” There is, of course, a yawning gap between saying this “is” a look at a future Nissan supercar and a more waffling “might be.” But it’s not all that much a stretch to connect a few dots to see how this virtual concept could be the missing link between today’s Nissan GT-R and the model that might follow.

Looking like it might belong in the movie version of Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi tale, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Nissan has offered up a teaser image of a new concept sports car that it will soon unveil during an event in Los Angeles.

Promising “all will be revealed” next Monday, June 16th, the Japanese maker hints that what it has in store, appropriately enough, will be “the next chapter in our Nissan story to an audience that has always shared our passion for performance.”

Gamesmanship!

What might that mean? If Vegas bookies were working up the odds, there’s better-than-even money on the likelihood the maker is about to introduce a new virtual concept that should plug into the wildly popular Sony PlayStation videogame, Gran Turismo.

A rendering of the VW Roadster Vision Gran Turismo Concept that will be racing in the latest version of the popular PlayStation game.

There’s something to be said for living a fantasy life – especially if you’ve got the latest version of the videogame Gran Turismo 6.

Volkswagen is joining the growing list of manufacturers developing special models solely for the popular Sony PlayStation game. It will show off a real world concept version of the GTI Roadster, Vision Gran Turismo at the annual Woerthersee Festival in Austria next week.

Virtually Yours!

A few makers, including Mercedes-Benz, have actually lifted a few lines and curves from their Gran Turismo concepts. So, while VW’s new extreme machine isn’t likely to roll into showrooms, it just might influence some of the maker’s future products – or so game fans can only hope.

It was in with the new car and out with the old designer. Unveiling the Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo was the last ‘performance’ of BMW’s design chief Chris Bangle.

The 52-year-old Bangle announced he’ll be leaving his employer of 17 years at the end of this month, though his successor, Adrian van Hooydonk, is already at the helm as BMW’s global design chief.

“I am not here to talk about myself, but to talk about the car,” said Bangle, who was filling in for van Hooydonk, who was living up to an old appointment he had in New York. And what Bangle revealed, was that the Concept 5 is a thinly-disguised version of the 5 Series Gran Turismo, that will bow at the IAA in Frankfurt in September – and go into production soon after.

With the Gran Turismo, BMW is targeting upscale customers, who have grown out of minivans and SUVs and are looking for an elegant alternative with lots of room and a high degree of practicality. BMW even designates the GT – known internally as the Progressive Activity Sedan – a car to create a new niche.